Anodized parts/bezel repairs for 66 Dart

[rod7515]

When I joined FABO back in 2013 one of the memebers here had sent me a tutorial on how he went about repairing and refinishing the headlight bezels for his 66 Dart. I am hoping to get a refresher as its been almost 2 years and I am finally about ready to tackle that part of my Dart. I have been looking for better bezels and a grill but not finding anything out there. Also what are the steps to remove the anodizing from teh trim parts as well or do I take them to a shop and let them remove it before I start the repairs?
Rod

 

[66Dvert]

When I joined FABO back in 2013 one of the memebers here had sent me a tutorial on how he went about repairing and refinishing the headlight bezels for his 66 Dart. I am hoping to get a refresher as its been almost 2 years and I am finally about ready to tackle that part of my Dart. I have been looking for better bezels and a grill but not finding anything out there. Also what are the steps to remove the anodizing from teh trim parts as well or do I take them to a shop and let them remove it before I start the repairs?
Rod

I have a 66 that I did some bezel repairs on and I ---
used a lye solution to remove the anodizing (the ORIGINAL yellow top can of easyoff oven cleaner) it took a couple of times to completely remove the anodizing in the cracks and crannies. as for tools I used anything and everything that would fit/shape the dents ad tears out in the bezels and grill.
my fav's were an 1/2" oak dowel rounded on one end and wedge shaped on the other, an Awl for those hard to get places in the corners and a small 4 inch square piece of sown material filled with sand to rest the part on for shaping(also you can find then online a lot easier than sewing one up,A DUH:banghead: moment after I had already made it). tons of different grit wet or dry sandpaper(use very sparingly due to thin metal) and polishing compounds.

to repair holes and tears I used the aluminum rods that I got from "harbor freight". I found that they actually worked better than the ones you find when you google them on the internet.

you need time and patience in working with the thin metal but it can be done.

here is mine after repairs. I still have to find a place to anodize them back if I want to be lazy and not wax them in order to keep them shiny. Are they perfect? heck no but I'm a beginner. But they do fit the curve of the fender better than stock did and they sure do look good with no holes or dent in them. if I spend a bunch more time with them they will be close to perfect parts.

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[rod7515]

Wow, very nice work. I have a shop only 2 miles form me that does anodizing so thats no problem. The hard work will be shaping and removing dents as my bezels look very similar or maybe even a little worse than yours did. How many hours do you think you have invested into yours? Thanks for the reply, anyone else go thru this work to restore yours? Any other pics of completed work vs where you started?
Thanks
Rod

 

[66Dvert]

Wow, very nice work. I have a shop only 2 miles form me that does anodizing so thats no problem. The hard work will be shaping and removing dents as my bezels look very similar or maybe even a little worse than yours did. How many hours do you think you have invested into yours? Thanks for the reply, anyone else go thru this work to restore yours? Any other pics of completed work vs where you started?
Thanks
Rod

most of the time was "wait " time to remove the anodizing. I spent about 2 hours total removing the anodizing, but waited 3 to 4 hours between coatings to make sure it really soaked the part.

both bezels had tears in the holes from the wrong screws (3" deck screws for craps sakes) in them to hold them on. I spent a couple of hours using the aluminum rods fixing the holes and about 3 hours apiece removing dents and "operator errors" since I had to learn NOT to push hard on any of the dents. gently was the work for the aluminum. you can use a lot more force on stainless steel trim. once I go it close to shape by test fitting it to the car I worked it down using finer and finer grits of sand paper, the coarsest I used was 220 and the finest was 2000 (1500 would have worked but I was chicken) after that a bout 1/2 hours each on buffing using different compounds, I only used 2 different compound sticks from Lowes made for aluminum, the coarse heavy cutting and the fine polishing one. there are 3 different ones I found out later coarse,medium and final polish. that is the way I'll go on the next set by using 3 compounds.
sooooo all in all I have about 6-8 hours per bezel and I still could probably do a bunch more to make them really look crisp and shiny. the grill took forever (20+ hours and still not done perfectly)due to the slots that had to be done by a tiny dremel polishing pad one at a time and I still have not painted the ring in the bezels

 

[dart64gt]

I paid and friend 150.00 to do all the stainless the 2 headlite doors the grille and the hood trim it took him 3 days and they look better then new. I just got to keep them polished and I have lots time for that.